Gearing Up for the Gala

The 2009 Roanoke Bar Association Foundation Gala and Law Day Celebration is set for Friday May 1 at the Hotel Roanoke. The fundraising and awards event will benefit the Roanoke Bar Association Foundation and the Oliver White Hill Foundation. Our keynote speaker will be Dean Rod Smolla of the Washington and Lee University School of Law. Nationally, Law Day 2009 will be honoring the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. Locally, we will also honor Roanoke's native son Oliver White Hill, the "Renaissance man of the Civil Rights Movement."

Here is our web page with details. We are eagerly seeking ticket buyers, table sponsors, and other sponsors. Contact me if you can think of a potential sponsor.

General Assembly Update

The Virginia General Assembly is currently in session. It is hard to get a day to day picture of the goings on at any session; this year there seems to be little reporting other than guns, tobacco, and very non-specific "budget shortfall" stories. The best place I have found to get updates of the session is Richmond Sunlight. The session is blogged, there are daily minutes, and there are links and comments.

RBA Rule of Law Project-- SIGN UP ASAP

The following is an excerpt from an email from Mike Pace, President of the Virginia Bar Association and Past President of the Roanoke Bar Association:

The Virginia Bar Association is sponsoring an exciting new project funded by the Virginia Law Foundation, beginning with a pilot program in Roanoke City, Salem and Roanoke County middle schools on February 18, 2009. The purpose of this project is to better educate middle school students in Virginia about the rule of law in America, and the need to protect it in order to preserve the rights and freedoms we enjoy as American citizens. The VBA Rule of Law Project is consistent with the Virginia Standards of Learning, and is funded by a grant from the Virginia Law Foundation.

We need 35 lawyers or judges to make it work. It is unlikely, however that all volunteers will be able to commit to teaching all of the classes with one teacher. To do this comfortably, we need 50 - 60 volunteers.

Each volunteer is asked to attend one training session on either February 3, 4 or 12 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the sixth floor Conference Center at Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore, SunTrust Plaza, 10 Franklin Road, S.E., Roanoke, Virginia.

Please contact Mike Pace by Thursday, January 29 if you would like to volunteer.

The Roanoke Valley Drug Court

I had the pleasure of attending my second Roanoke Valley Drug Court graduation this week. The Roanoke Times was there to cover the event. As you may know, the Drug Court takes applications from certain eligible non-violent felony offenders, who are given the opportunity to have their charges dismissed in return for a minimum eight months of intensive monitoring, counseling, 12-step programs, and payment of fines and restitution.

Roanoke's drug court was the first in the Commonwealth, and was started by Judge Diane Strickland. The Roanoke Valley Drug Court has the most participants of any drug court in the state. The Court is a proven success, with a re-arrest rate of less than half the re-arrest rate of non-participants.

Although the Drug Court is facing support shortages, due to budget cuts from the Department of Corrections, the Court is still a going concern with plans for the future. The Drug Court could face further budget cuts during this legislative session, so let your legislator know your position on the issue.

Save the Dates

We kicked off 2009 with a very good meeting featuring Jay Warren of WSLS, an anchorman who happens to be a pretty astute political reporter. Jay's visit generated some long overdue media coverage for one of our membership meetings (Thanks to Hank Bostwick for the piece). We have a lot going on this year; please get these dates on your calendar:

February 10: Membership meeting with Professor James I. "Bud" Robertson
February 18: RBA Members teach the VBA's Rule of Law Classes in area schools
February 27: Roanoke Bar Association Bench-Bar Conference
March 10: Membership Meeting with Dr. Gerald R. McDermott
April 14: Membership Meeting with Annual Legislative Update
May 1: Roanoke Bar Association Foundation Gala and Law Day Celebration

Mike Pace's Great November

Check out this post on the Virginia Lawyer's Weekly Blog for details. Here is the Gentry Locke press release on the same topic. Mike was President of this Association in 2000-2001.

Santa in the Square

Monday December 8, 6-8 PM, Center in the Square. The third annual event. Thanks to our members for their supporting contributions of time and money. Here is a link to the official RBA page for the event.

Our Newsletter

The latest issue of the Roanoke Bar Review has just been released. It is (as always) very well done and packed with information. The publication is principally distributed via PDF link (here is a link to issues back to 2003), but our "paper" members receive a published copy. A number of Judges in Southwest Virginia receive copies as well. Please take the time to read it-- it will bring you up to speed with the VBA's Rule of Law program, with Youth Court, Book Buddies, Santa in the Square, and many of our other activities. Please don't neglect the "President's Column," which I wrote about the Association's need for volunteers, particularly for the W&L Community Law Clinic at the Oliver Hill House.

November CLE

The Association's November CLE is set for Friday November 21 at noon at the Higher Education Center. The topic is Federal Civil Procedure: Overview and Examination of Key Differences Between Federal and State Practice. The seminar is bargain priced at $25 for 1 hour of credit; I suspect that you will find that the written materials alone will be worth far more than that to you. The seminar will be taught by Travis Graham of Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore.

Here is a link to the RBA site's page, with online registration. Please make plans to attend.

November 11 Meeting

Get ready for a big meeting on November 11, featuring keynote speaker the Honorable Martin Clark, Judge of the Twenty-Seventh Circuit Court, who presides in Patrick and Henry County Circuit Courts. Judge Clark, of course, is the New York Times best selling author of three novels, the latest being The Legal Limit. I have read all of the Judge's books, and they are all well worth reading, but the The Legal Limit is my favorite. Ram's Head Books will be selling the book at the luncheon.

The meeting will also feature a memorial resolution for our very distinguished member, and my law partner, Jane S. Glenn, who died last November 20. Jane's family will be joining us for the meeting.